Okay, I didn't know that was there, but the logging I do is different.

Would you mind going into details? Are you aware of /var/log/dpkg.log
too? How about sending a patch to aptitude?

In a nutshell, I capture all the standard output from an install in one
file, together with a "show" of the package [as it was at install time]
-- not sure I'll ever need to refer back to this.

The other things I do are to keep a simple history of all aptitude use
by logging the parameters used for each invocation.

If packages are removed or installed, I create a new set of files that
describes the installed packages -- this is so that I can track changes
over time.

All the "extra" stuff that I do is there to help documents somewhat
changes to the system.

At the end of the day, the standard /var/log/dpkg.log and
/var/log/aptitude will probably give enough info for most people -- so I
can't see any benefit in patching something that isn't broken, it is
only different to the logging that I create for myself. My simple
script is there for anyone who wants it -- it is pretty basic, but
effective for my needs.

I guess my main objective is to provide an historical picture of what
was installed when and such information might be useful for machine
rebuilds or as a reference for a completely new build on another machine.